In my U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,787, I describe a playing surface and its method of making, particularly suitable for tennis, which comprises a foam sheet, for example of closed-cell polyvinylchloride, knife-coated and then heat-laminated to the underside of a felted scrim which may be of polyester fibers. When installed as a permanent playing surface or court, the lamination had to be stretched mechanically across the playing site, for example by a ratchet mechanism or hydraulic jacking device. It also discloses that the playing surface may be formed in a plurality of panels butted and taped together side-by-side.
The principal purpose of the present invention is to improve upon the playing surface described in my aforementioned patent, one form of which has been in commercial use for many years since issuance of my patent. One particular area of improvement is elimination of the need for mechanical stretching to smooth out wrinkles upon installation at the playing site.